


5 Moments From A Different Path

by Mystic_Harley



Category: Naruto
Genre: 5 Things, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-11
Updated: 2018-11-11
Packaged: 2019-08-22 01:03:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16587755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mystic_Harley/pseuds/Mystic_Harley
Summary: A brief snapshot into a world where Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura's personalities are swapped, and how things could've been different because of it.





	5 Moments From A Different Path

  1. Divergence Point



The break between lessons was what Sasuke hated the most. In class and during training, he could at least not have to worry about the girls fawning over him as if he was some sort of god. He never understood it, and quite frankly he didn’t want too. He just needed to get stronger.  
  
Pushing himself up off his desk, his head throbbed a little in pain when he heard Sakura and Ino’s annoying squealing. If he wanted to eat lunch in peace, he would need to hurry. He scooped up his food and quickly darted out of the door. He was barely a few steps out when he ran into the last person he ever wanted to see right now.  
  
“A-Ah! S-Sasuke…I-I’m…. sorry…” Naruto mumbled, looking down and chewing on his lower lip. Sasuke could never understand how the blonde was so quiet and yet wear something so loud, the orange was eye searing.  
  
“Just get out of my way, and if Sakura and Ino come this way, don’t tell them I was here.”   
  
“Okay…”  
  
Rolling his eyes, Sasuke moved quickly down the hall. He could hear Ino and Sakura yelling at Naruto as he rounded the corner, and he glanced behind him to see the blonde shrink even more than usual. A small pang of sympathy went through him, but he shook his head and continued on.  
  
After lunch, they were practicing taijutsu again. Naruto, as expected, was probably the worst of the class due to the fact he was trembling so much, and his punches were so weak. He had heard that Naruto was held back, and he wouldn’t be surprised if he was held back again. He would never make it as a ninja if he acted like that.  
  
“Sasuke and Sakura, step up.”   
  
He stepped up, resisting the urge to roll his eyes as Ino shrieked about how lucky Sakura was. Sakura’s face was flushed as she got into the school mandated position. Sasuke slipped seamlessly into the Uchiha-style he was brought up with, sharp eyes watching her closely and waiting for Iruka’s signal.  
  
“Begin!”  
  
It was over in 5 seconds. Disappointing.  
  
There weren’t many who could keep up with Sasuke in the class. He stared down at Sakura, who was gawking up back at him stupidly. It was the briefest of thrills, but it was soon gone, replaced by the cold emptiness again. “Just so you know, I don’t like weaklings.”  
  
He released her, and walked back to the rest of the group, hands in his pockets. He didn’t notice Sakura stand up and stare at him in awe, before a determined crease wrinkled her forehead and she went back to join Ino, oddly quiet but staring at Sasuke with a fire in her eyes that was never there before.  
  
Little did those three know how different their lives would become in the future.  
  
2\. Team 7 in Earnest  
  
“Alright, to start things off. Why don’t you introduce yourselves and tell me what your goals are?”   
  
It was the same simple speech he had given to all the rookies who came this way. Truthfully, he didn’t really care about it, but it was a good way to tell what he needed to work on. The bell test would sort out the other issue. The pink haired one shot her hand into the air, waving it around excitedly.  
  
“Pinkie.” Kakashi acknowledged.  
  
“My name is Sakura Haruno!” She boomed out, far louder than Kakashi had expected. “And my goal is to be the strongest kunoichi in Konoha!” Sakura flexed one of her arms, the muscle bulging a little. Inwardly, Kakashi wondered if she was hanging around Guy.  
  
“Alright, you next blondie.”  
  
Naruto jumped, and stammered a little. “Me!? Well um…I-I…uh…” He flushed, looking at the ground and mumbled something none of them could hear.  
  
Reaching over, Sakura slapped Naruto’s back enthusiastically. “Come on Naruto, sensei can’t hear you if you mumble! Speak up!”   
  
He looked up at her, and she nodded encouragingly. Which was promising. Taking a deep breath, Naruto clenched his fists together. “My name…is Naruto Uzumaki…and…” He seemed to be withering like a dying plant before Kakashi’s very eyes. “And I want to be hokage!”  
  
Just like his father, Kakashi noted bitterly. But Naruto would never be hokage if he let other people walk over him and never found his voice. He inclined his head at Sasuke. “You next.”  
  
“My name is Sasuke Uchiha. My goal is to kill my older brother, Itachi.”  
  
Cold as ice, just as Kakashi expected. “And why do you want to kill your older brother?” He asked casually, as if he was asking about the weather. His lazy looking expression hid a sharp and calculating gaze.  
  
Sasuke’s fists curled tightly. “He hurt my family. I don’t want him hurting anyone else’s.” Kakashi blinked a little in shock. Well, expectations were being subverted and surprises were being made left and right. This was probably the most mish-mashed team of outcasts Kakashi had so far, but somehow he couldn’t help but think that this would be the team to meet his standards.  
  
“Right, meet me at Training Ground 5 for your final test in 20 minutes. See ya.” He disappeared in a flash, leaving what he hoped was his new team.  
  
3\. Bells of Victory  
  
Sasuke panted heavily, the adrenaline coursing through his body as he stared up at his sensei, who hadn’t even broken a sweat. Sasuke wiped his mouth a little, and he could feel himself grinning like a lunatic as he launched forward, Sakura charging in next to him as they launched themselves at the bells.  
  
Kakashi swerved back to avoid Sakura’s punch and did a full backflip to avoid Sasuke’s kick, using his longer reach to kick Sasuke’s chin and send the Uchiha flying. Using a burst of speed, Kakashi slammed his palm into Sakura’s stomach to send her sprawling next to Sasuke.  
  
They were competent at taijutsu, he had to give them that. But it would take a lot more than raw power to get the bells dangling from his hip. He glanced over at Naruto, who was hovering near the treeline. He hadn’t moved in 5 minutes, and Kakashi suspected it was because Sasuke and Sakura ignored whatever ideas he may have had. He could see those blue eyes analyzing the fight, and he shuddered a bit. That was creepy.  
  
“Sasuke! This isn’t getting us anywhere.” Sakura wheezed out, shakily standing up. “We should regroup, try and get him off of our trail.”  
  
Sasuke grunted in response. “Fine.” Hand symbols were flying rapidly, and Kakashi’s eye widened in alarm as Sasuke leaned back. “Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!” Intense heat sweltered over Kakashi, and he briefly stared at the massive fireball that was rocketing towards him before he quickly dashed off to the side to avoid the explosion as the massive ball of flames crashed onto the ground.  
  
As the smoke cleared, he saw his potential genin were gone, and when he looked over to where Naruto was standing, he saw nothing. He shivered again, still creepy.  
  
Crouching down low, Sakura and Sasuke panted as they slumped against a tree. “I think…we got away.” She wheezed, wiping a bit of sweat from her brow.  
  
“Not for long, he’s a jonin. He can find us easily.” Sasuke countered, standing up and dusting his shorts off. “We need a plan, brute force unfortunately isn’t going to work, we’re too outmatched.”  
  
“What can we do!?” Sakura exclaimed in alarm, seemingly distraught at the idea that she wasn’t strong enough to handle it. “We can’t even touch him…”  
  
“Um…”  
  
Jumping in alarm, Sakura and Sasuke were finally made aware of Naruto’s presence in the foliage. Approaching his teammates, Sasuke had to wonder how he managed to sneak up on them wearing that garish jumpsuit. “If it’s okay…I uh…have an idea…”  
  
“Well why didn’t you say something earlier?!” Sakura balked, and Sasuke could barely make out the brief grumblings Naruto was muttering before he held up a hand.   
  
“Go on Naruto.”  
  
Sasuke shifted a little at the appreciative look his teammate gave him, and Naruto took a breath before speaking. “Well…we might be able to sneak up on him…”  
  
“Sneak up on him? How?” Sakura asked, now giving Naruto her full attention.   
  
Sasuke shot her an annoyed look. “He’s getting to that.”  
  
Naruto nodded, and fidgeted a bit. “I can use my shadow clones…I can’t do regular clones but if I can use my shadow clones and have them transform into you two…we might be able to fool him.”  
  
The silence in the air was almost palpable. The blonde shrunk away after a few more seconds. “I-I’m sorry, it’s probably a really bad idea, I’ll…”  
  
“It’s brilliant!” Sakura yelled out, pulling Naruto in for a tight hug. “Naruto you’re a genius!”  
  
“I-I am!?” He squeaked out.   
  
Sasuke couldn’t help a tiny smirk forming on his lips. “It’s a good plan Naruto, let’s put it into practice. He’s still standing out there.”  
  
His teammates brows furrowed, and they nodded. “Right.”  
  
Kakashi’s first thought when Sakura and Sasuke burst from the tree line was ‘here we go again’ before heaving out a sigh. Would these kids ever learn?  
  
Then he was surprised when another Sasuke and Sakura came out from a different direction. Then another pair, and one more pair after that. Shadow Clones.  
  
‘Very clever.’ Kakashi noted, eye sweeping around as the shadow clones each got into a fighting stance. ‘Looks like they listened to Naruto after all…’   
  
Slipping his book away, Kakashi slowly walked forward towards the mass of clones, now more certain than ever if his team could figure out how to work together more, then they would be the most feared in all the Land of Fire.  
  


 4. Riptide  
  
Everything hurt to Sasuke right now. Needles were sticking out of his body like he was a human pincushion. He wasn’t even fighting against Zabuza, but his freaky assistant. Those damn ice mirrors meant he couldn’t track him.  
  
“It is futile to keep fighting.” Haku told him, the sound reverberating around the dome. “I am sorry I have to do this to you.”  
  
‘Like hell you are.’ Sasuke thought bitterly. Slowly standing up and slipping into his taijutsu pose, even if there was a slim chance of getting out of this alive, he could endure it. This was the most thrilling fight he’d been in yet, and the feeling was intoxicating.  
  
“Sasuke watch out!” Rough and calloused hands pushed him aside, and Sasuke stared in shock as the latest bombardment of needles slammed into Sakura, sending her collapsing to the ground.   
  
“SAKURA!”   
  
Staggering over to her, Sasuke watched a downed Naruto crawl his way over to her and shake her. “Hey…Sakura, get up!” Sakura didn’t move.  
  
“Sakura you need to get up…please…”   
  
Again, no movement. Sasuke could only stare down at Sakura’s body as Naruto choked out a sob, slamming his fists down on the ground. “You killed her…you killed her you bastard!”  
  
“I am sorry, but it is her own fault. She moved into the-“  
  
“SHUT UP!” Naruto yelled out, and Sasuke took a step back in shock. He had never seen Naruto so angry, and amazingly he got back up despite his injuries. A red hue seemed to swirl around him. “You killed her…AND I WON’T FORGIVE YOU!”   
  
Demonic chakra washed over everything. Haku jerked back in surprise as Naruto rocketed forward and shattered one of the mirrors with an enraged fist, screaming in fury as Haku swiftly pelted Naruto’s body with dozens of needles, a few of them jamming into his neck.  
  
Swaying a little, the red chakra died down and Naruto slumped forward.   
  
“So, he is the jailer of the nine tailed fox…well, he shouldn’t be a problem anymore. He would have caused quite the stir if he was against Zabuza.”  
  
“Hey…asshole.”   
  
Haku jerked up, and Sasuke glared at her. “You know…I saw my whole family butchered. I watched everyone I loved for carried away on stretchers. I’ve heard about how many people you and your partner have slaughtered. And do you want to know something?” Sasuke could feel his chakra stir inside of him, his eyes seemed to surge with power as he crouched a little. “ _No one else will die today as long as I live._ ”  
  
Sasuke leaped forward and smashed one of the ice mirrors in a fury. His hand was practically shattered by the force, but he didn’t care. The adrenaline in his body was at its peak, and with a mighty roar he grabbed Sakura and Naruto’s bodies and threw them out of the ice dome, turning around and performing the necessary hand signs, forcing his broken hand’s fingers into the symbols.  
  
“How…how is this possible? Your chakra surely…no!” He could hear the panic in Haku’s voice, and the largest volley of needles Sasuke had ever seen shot out and slammed into his already broken arm, shredding the muscles and digging into his pressure points, the pain was almost overwhelming.  
  
“ _Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!_ ” Sasuke poured everything he had into the jutsu. Every drop of chakra he could spare was funneled into the greatest fireball he would ever create. The raging inferno engulfed the entire dome, encasing both Sasuke and Haku in an explosion that could be seen across the entire bridge.   
  
His arm was mangled, probably beyond any hope of repair. He didn’t really care about that though, and Sasuke stumbled forward, staring down at the burnt and smoking Haku, laying there on the ground. “How…?” The assassin asked weakly. “What are you?”  
  
Sasuke spit on the ground next to Haku and limped over to his teammates. Sakura groaned as she was helped up, and she easily hauled Naruto up on her shoulder. “Did we win?”  
  
He looked back at Haku’s corpse and nodded. “Yeah. We won.”   
  
Then everything went black.  
  
  


5\. Hope for The Future

“How’s your arm Sasuke?” Naruto sat down on Sasuke’s left, a bowl of piping hot ramen cradled in his hands. He held them out silently, but Sasuke shook his head. Too salty.  
  
He looked down at his new arm, flexing the mechanical fingers and swiveling it back and forth. He shrugged. “It doesn’t hurt, I guess.” Naruto hummed out in relief, slurping down his noodles.  
  
“You shouldn’t even be doing this Sasuke, you haven’t fully recovered yet! The preliminaries were bad enough, but…”   
  
Sasuke held his hand up to Sakura and pointed over at Naruto. “We’re supposed to be cheering Naruto on against Neji, not worry about me. I’ll be just fine. Speaking of, how’s your training with Kakashi-sensei going?”  
  
Naruto brightened up considerably at that. “It’s going great! He taught me this really cool jutsu, said that I have enough chakra reserves for it thanks to the fox.”   
  
Sasuke nodded, humming a little and Sakura huffed out. “Well let’s hope that’s enough to shut Neji up! I can’t believe he was so rude to you and Hinata!”   
  
Her teammate shrunk back a little, flushing a bit out of embarrassment. “I-It’s not that bad…really…”  
  
“You sound just like her!”  
  
He rolled his eyes as Sakura doted over Naruto again for what he thought was the millionth time. No matter what Sakura kept insisting wasn’t the case, she really did act like their mom, if her threats to come over there and make sure they were okay were any indication.  
  
Strangely enough, Sasuke didn’t really mind that. He checked the clock and stood up from his bed. “It’s almost time Naruto, we’ll meet you at the arena.”  
  
Naruto’s head swiveled at the clock before he swore loudly, bolting out the door with a hurried goodbye. Sakura moved towards the door, giving Sasuke a small smile. “I’ll see you at the arena, okay?”  
  
“Yeah, see you.”   
  
She closed the door, leaving Sasuke alone once again. He glanced down at his new arm, the bronze shining in the bright afternoon sunlight. The doctors had told him that they didn’t have enough time to save his arm, and rather than walk around with a shriveled husk, he made the call to just cut it off and get a replacement.   
  
It had taken them months to even get the thing built and sealed properly so he could use it, and even longer for him to get used to it. But, in the end it would be worth it, he felt.   
  
The compound was no longer empty to him. At least, not as empty. Naruto and Sakura often visited his home, or he went to one of theirs. He stepped outside and made his walk towards the arena. He still felt the burning hatred inside of him against Itachi. There was no force on earth that would ever stop him from killing his wretched older brother.   
  
He passed through the gates and climbed up the stairs to where Sakura and their sensei were. He could hear Sakura complaining loudly about this old white-haired man peeping on the baths, and how she was basically blackmailing him to train her as repayment for seeing her naked.  
  
Sasuke never thought he would come to care so much about his team. He waved at them with his new arm, leaning on the railing as the combatants walked into the arena. The crowd roared with delight as Neji slipped into the famous Hyuuga stance, clear eyes bore down on his opponent.  
  
Naruto looked around, before seeing his teammates and waving to them. Sakura whooped loudly, clutching the railing so hard Sasuke was afraid she might dent it, and she yelled at him to kick that smug Hyuuga’s ass.  
  
Sasuke smirked, and gave Naruto a quick thumbs up. The blonde grinned at him, adjusted his headband, and got into a fighting stance.   
  
Sasuke knew that he wouldn’t have to fight Itachi alone. He knew that no matter what troubles were up ahead he had people he could rely on. When the time came for Itachi’s end, he would have his teammates fighting alongside with him.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to everyone for reading this, this is my first Naruto fanfic in a while, and it's good to be writing for the fandom again. I hope you all enjoyed!


End file.
